Caput Nili: How I Won the War and Lost My Taste for Oranges

Caput Nili: How I Won the War and Lost My Taste for Oranges recounts the true story of what happened when award-winning poet Lisa Gill threatened to hold up the MRI clinic in 2003. Using poetry, prose, and art, this memoir takes a powerful look at both personal and institutionalized violence and explores how a hard-won medical diagnosis left the author searching to understand the history of violence in her life and the consequences for her health. Anyone who has ever been ignored, discounted, invalidated, categorized into silence will love this book, and that’s just part of the audience. Gill’s quest through the Wonderland of our healthcare system is by turns harrowing and hilarious, a must-read for anyone interested in resilience and the capacity of the human spirit to survive.

Caput Nili is a powerful testament to the human spirit as it attempts to grow in a field of absurdity. Outrageous, funny, and brilliant! –Joy Harjo

Lisa Gill continues to expand what is possible as a poet. Her latest endeavor is a powerful look at violence in our culture. The end result should be required reading for all people in the health care industry. –Gary Mex Glazner

Lisa Gill is a poet who celebrates beauty while summoning us to stand against the injustices that can shatter the human spirit. This is a splendid book that deserves the widest possible audience. –Demetria Martinez